Belcourt presents 2013 Oscar Picks

The Belcourt Theatre presents Oscar Picks, an assortment of 2013 Academy Award-nominated films as well as selected Best Picture Winners from past years. Oscar Picks, which runs from Jan. 25-Feb. 23, includes many of this year’s nominated films in various categories: Best Picture nominees BEASTS OF THE SOUTHERN WILD, THE MASTER, AMOUR; Best Documentary Feature nominees 5 BROKEN CAMERAS, HOW TO SURVIVE THE PLAGUE, SEARCHING FOR SUGAR MAN; Best Animated Feature nominees FRANKENWEENIE and PARANORMAN; Best Shorts nominees in Animation, Live Action and Documentary; and others. Past Best Picture Winners include THE APARTMENT, ANNIE HALL, ALL QUIET ON THE WESTERN FRONT, and THE DEER HUNTER. Tickets are available for purchase at belcourt.org or at the theatre’s box office.

Following the last day of Oscar Picks, film fans may attend the Belcourt’s 12th annual Oscar night viewing party — called Oscar® Experience: Nashville — the best way to experience the year’s biggest awards show and the only officially sanctioned Oscar party in Nashville. This Belcourt fundraiser features the Academy Awards® live telecast on the theatre’s large screens. Guests enjoy a red carpet party, a great silent auction, a glamorous VIP backstage lounge and more.

“These Oscar picks give Nashville film fans a chance to experience gems like BEASTS OF THE SOUTHERN WILD, THE MASTER, animation and documentary shorts as anticipation builds for the upcoming Academy Awards on Feb. 24 and our Oscar® Experience event that evening,” said Stephanie Silverman, executive director. “And, with classics like THE APARTMENT and ANNIE HALL and THE DEER HUNTER, audiences are reminded of some of the great movie-making of the past.”

OSCAR Picks: Film Descriptions

BEASTS OF THE SOUTHERN WILD Currently an Academy Award nominee for Best Motion Picture, Director (Benh Zeitlin), Actress in a Leading Role (Quvenzhané Wallis), Best Adapted Screenplay (Lucy Alibar and Benh Zeitlin) Friday-Wednesday, Jan. 25-30

Hushpuppy, an intrepid six-year-old girl, lives with her father, Wink, in “The Bathtub,” a Southern Delta community at the edge of the world. Wink’s tough love prepares his daughter for the unraveling of the universe and a time when he’s no longer there to protect her. Grand Jury Prize Winner: 2012 Sundance Film Festival and Camera d’Or: 2012 Cannes International Film Festival. Dir. Benh Zeitlin, USA, 2012, 91 min., PG-13, 35mm

THE MASTER Currently an Academy Award nominee for Best Actor in a Leading Role (Joaquin Phoenix), Actor in a Supporting Role (Philip Seymour Hoffman), Actress in a Supporting Role (Amy Adams)Friday-Wednesday, Jan. 25-30

Director Paul Thomas Anderson has chosen a provocative premise, which he pursues with patience rather than sensationalism. In an arresting return to the big screen, Joaquin Phoenix plays a troubled soldier in post–World War II America. Stripped of every common civility, he rages through life like an animal, unable to keep a job, to attract a woman, to live in his own skin. By chance one night he jumps on board a docked ship and stows away as it sets sail. He soon discovers that the ship belongs to one Lancaster Dodd (Philip Seymour Hoffman), the charismatic founder of a new religion. With his wife (Amy Adams), Dodd probes the unconscious minds of his subjects, driving them to reveal hidden vulnerabilities. Dir. Paul Thomas Anderson, USA, 2012, 144 min., R, 35mm

Director Billy Wilder’s next film after the blockbusting success of 1959’s SOME LIKE IT HOT, THE APARTMENT revolves around C.C. Baxter (Jack Lemmon), a company drone intent on climbing the corporate ladder by any means necessary. To cement his position with his higher-ups, he lends them his apartment for them to pursue their extramarital affairs. When the personnel director (Fred MacMurray) offers Baxter a promotion in exchange for the sole use of the apartment, things begin to fall to pieces both hilariously and tragically. Dir. Billy Wilder, USA, 1960, 125 min., NR, 35mm

Comedian Alvy Singer (Woody Allen) looks back at his relationship with the enchanting Annie Hall (Diane Keaton) and ponders the nature of relationships, sex and existence. Allen’s film reinvented the structure and goals of the comedy genre by meshing the zany satire of the Marx Brothers with the existentialism, technique and flashbacks of many of the international art house films of the time. Woody Allen’s seminal comic dissection of the neurotic male psyche is a hilarious love letter to the absurdity of modern dating, and in turn to love itself. Dir. Woody Allen, USA, 1977, 93 min., PG, New 35mm Print

An extraordinary work of both cinematic and political activism, 5 BROKEN CAMERAS is a deeply personal, first-hand account of non-violent resistance in Bil’in, a West Bank village threatened by encroaching Israeli settlements. Shot almost entirely by Palestinian farmer Emad Burnat, who bought his first camera in 2005 to record the birth of his youngest son, the footage was later turned into a galvanizing cinematic experience by co-directors Guy Davidi and Burnat. Structured around the violent destruction of a succession of Burnat’s video cameras, the filmmakers’ collaboration follows one family’s evolution over five years of village turmoil. Dir. Emad Burnat, Palestine, 2011, 94 min., NR, HD, Hebrew and Arabic w/English subtitles

HOW TO SURVIVE A PLAGUE Currently an Academy Award nominee for Best Documentary FeatureTuesday-Thursday, Feb. 5-7

Despite having no scientific training, two coalitions — ACT UP and TAG (Treatment Action Group)—whose activism and innovation turned AIDS from a death sentence into a manageable condition by infiltrating the pharmaceutical industry and helping to identify promising new drugs, moving them from experimental trials to patients in record time. With unfettered access to a treasure trove of never-before-seen archival footage from the 1980s and 90s, the viewer is smack in the middle of the controversial actions, the heated meetings, the heartbreaking failures, and the exultant breakthroughs of heroes in the making. Dir. David France, USA, 2012, 109 min., NR, 35mm

SEARCHING FOR SUGAR MAN Currently an Academy Award nominee for Best Documentary FeatureTuesday-Thursday, Feb. 5-7

SEARCHING FOR SUGAR MAN tells the incredible true story of Rodriguez, the greatest ‘70s rock icon who never was. Discovered in a Detroit bar in the late ‘60s by two celebrated producers struck by his soulful melodies and prophetic lyrics, the producers recorded an album, which they believed would secure Rodriguez’s reputation as the greatest recording artist of his generation. In fact, the album bombed, and the singer disappeared into obscurity amid rumors of a gruesome on-stage suicide. But a bootleg recording found its way into apartheid South Africa, and over the next two decades he became a phenomenon. The film follows the story of two South African fans who set out to discover what really happened to their hero. Dir. Malik Bendjelloul, Sweden / UK, 2012, 86 min., PG-13, 35mm

AMOUR Currently an Academy Award nominee for Best Picture, Foreign Language Film, Director (Michael Haneke), Actress in a Leading Role (Emmanuelle Riva)Opens Friday, Feb. 8

AMOUR focuses on the relationship between two married octogenarian retired music teachers, Georges and Anne (HIROSHIMA MON AMOUR’s Emmanuelle Riva). After a sudden attack that causes Anne’s health to rapidly deteriorate, the steadfast Georges must look after her as his own health and mental stability begin to come into question. Set almost entirely within the confines of the couple’s apartment, a rotating cast of visitors, from one of Anne’s former students to their daughter Eva (Isabelle Huppert), threaten the tenuous fabric of their insular world. Director Michael Haneke’s (THE WHITE RIBBON, CACHE) scrupulous composition, stark realism, and temporal mastery paired with phenomenal acting throughout further inform this deeply emotional narrative about love, life and loss. Dir. Michael Haneke, France, 2012, 127 min., PG-13, 35mm

ALL QUIET ON THE WESTERN FRONT 1930 Academy Award Winner for Best Motion Picture, DirectorSaturday-Sunday. Feb. 9-10

This epic adaptation of Erich Maria Remarque’s novel of the same name follows a group of young German schoolboys as they enlist in the army, train, and eventually encounter death and destruction in the trenches of World War I. A masterpiece hailed by many as the progenitor of the anti-war film genre, it lays bare the universal brutality of war, stripping it of its glory, while poignantly illuminating the very personal tragic toll on the young soldiers who do the fighting. The film is presented here in its newly restored complete and uncut version. Dir. Lewis Milestone, USA, 1930, 136 min., NR, New 35mm Print

Michael Cimino’s haunting second feature revolves around three Pittsburgh steel workers, Michael (Robert DeNiro), Nick (Christopher Walken), and Steven (John Savage), who enlist to fight in Vietnam. The film explores each man’s reactions to the horrors of the war while tracking the psychological and moral dissolution they experience from imprisonment and torture at the hands of the Vietcong. A fable about the disillusionment of the American dream, and the toll of war—not just on individuals, but on communities and society as a whole. Dir. Michael Cimino, USA/UK, 1978, 182 min., R, 35mm

Norman Babcock (Kodi Smit-McPhee), a young boy who sees dead people, lives in the quiet New England town of Blithe Hollow where he’s bullied at school for his semi-regular near-psychotic meltdowns. His deranged uncle Mr. Prenderghast (John Goodman) tells him a cryptic story about a ritual Norman must promise to uphold to protect the town. With this knowledge, Norman, helped by his eccentric overweight pal Neil (Tucker Albrizzi), must try to uncover the dark secret of Blithe Hollow. Beautifully rendered stop-motion animation and underlying themes of acceptance make this film a must-see for people of all ages. Dir. Chris Butler, USA, 2012, 92 min., PG, HD

FRANKENWEENIE Currently an Academy Award nominee for Best Animated FeatureSaturday, Feb. 23 at 10 a.m.

After unexpectedly losing his beloved dog Sparky, young Victor harnesses the power of science to bring his best friend back to life—with just a few minor adjustments. He tries to hide his home-sewn creation, but when Sparky gets out, Victor’s fellow students, teachers and the entire town all learn that getting a new “leash on life” can be monstrous. Dir. Tim Burton, USA, 2012, 87 min., PG, 35mm